Discovery of Drug-resistance Regulating Genes through Isolation of Drug-resistant Strains

 Discovery of Drug-resistance Regulating Genes through Isolation of Drug-resistant Strains

Eui-Seong Kim1,2, Kyung-Tae Lee1*

1Korea Zoonosis Research Institute, Jeonbuk National University, Iksan 54531, Jeonbuk, Korea
2Division of Life Science, Jeonbuk National University, Jeonju 54896, Jeonbuk, Korea

*e-mail contact: lee.kt@jbnu.ac.kr

In the concept of One-Health, the most important medium that connects our surroundings and the natural environment is wild animals, through which many zoonotic diseases can spread. In particular, it has been reported that drug resistance of microorganisms can be developed by anti-microbial agents sprayed in large quantities on farmland and can be spread by the wild animals. The opportunistic infections by microorganisms with drug resistance may increase as these strains are introduced into cities. In this study, the medium connecting the environment, animals, and humans was assumed to be animals with relatively high body temperature. The experiment is to compare and analyze the degree of drug resistance of these strains with reference strains and clinical strains by collecting high-temperature-resistant fungal strains from hospital patients or from animal or bird feces in the environment. In the samples, it was possible to selectively classify fungi under the acidic and high-temperature culture conditions, where bacteria are difficult to reproduce. It is possible to isolate and identify fungi, and to measure susceptibility to commercially available antifungal agents. The obtained strains can be comparatively analyzed according to the collection location and can be provided as a database that can comprehensively predict the distribution and migration route of antifungal resistance-related genes.